HMP Storybrooke
by loweze
Summary: AU SwanQueen set in Her Majesty's Prison: Storybrooke, where Emma Swan is serving a life sentence for murder and Regina Mills is the new Wing Governor. Based on an existing couple/storyline from British prison drama; Bad Girls. Reference may be made to other OUaT characters but they will not necessarily be true to OUaT.
1. Chapter 1

AUTHORS NOTE:

This is the real first chapter of HMP: Storybrooke (i.e. before the preview I posted before). I know this is a little slow to start but I wanted to get you guys something to thank you for the favourites and follows so I hope to get you a little more and our first Emma/Regina scene ASAP next chapter!

THANKS!

* * *

The pain is becoming unbearable now and she's sure she's not due her period but the warm, sticky liquid starting to flood from between her legs is telling her otherwise. Another wave of pain crashes over her and she doubles over clenching her stomach, struggling to stay upright. When it lessens enough she manages to make her way towards the door, and makes it just in time to throw her hands against it to support herself as her insides twist against themselves again and she cries out, "Arghhhh!" This isn't right. She bangs her firsts against the door, unable to open it, transferring the pain in her abdomen into her hands. She knows this isn't right. "Emma!"

# # # #

* * *

The yellow paint on the metal staircase amused Emma Swan even now, after years of seeing it; its pathetic attempt to lighten up the cold and sparse prison ward just reassured her negative opinion of the prison system. Like a shoddy paint job can cheer-up women separated from their children, their lives, women struggling with addiction and mental illness, women wrongfully committed. It would be better if they hadn't even made the attempt. She shook off her thoughts and her blonde ponytail bounced behind her, as she jogged up the final flight of stairs up to the third floor.

"Just a minute, what are you doing here?" Senior Officer Hershey questioned gruffly and positioned herself deliberately at the top of the stairs to block Emma's path to the landing. Cora Hershey was an older woman, and though she still boasted thick, dark hair, she acted a lot older still, as if the world owed her for a lifetime of hardship. Her chosen profession always raised more questions than it answered with anyone she met and despite her thoroughly vocalised dislike for the job, she wouldn't dream to look elsewhere. Preferring, instead, to wallow in self-pity and having something to rant about.

"I just wanted to check on Ashley before lock-up, I didn't see her around tonight at the fashion show rehearsal." Emma replied, concerned about her fellow in-mate, pushing onto her tiptoes in her more-or-less white trainers, to see if she could see her friend anywhere on the landing.

Hershey didn't budge. "You didn't see her because she didn't want to be seen." She scoffed, puffing out her chest in an effort to assert dominance. Emma was face to face height with Hershey despite standing one step below the prison officer so Hershey's effort had little effect. "She wanted a nice peaceful rest like you're holding me up from. So turn around."

Emma quickly tried to think of some way to appeal to whatever human nature existed in Cora Hershey that enabled her to be alive at all, but before she could reply, she heard Ashley calling her name.

"Emma!"

"Ashley?" Emma shouted to her fellow in-mate trying to squeeze past Hershey to the landing, but she blocked her path again.

"April! Take this inmate down to G2 please."

"I just want to see her." Emma pleaded as Officer Booth arrived to guide her to her cell.

"So you'll see her in the morning, alright?" Hershey replied, her voice dripping with false politeness, "Now move! Or I'll put you on report." All politeness gone now.

Emma liked to think she knew when to cut her loses but the rebel inside her rarely let her cut them cleanly; "You'd gas us in our cells if they told you too wouldn't you…" It really wasn't a question.

Emma turned to make her way down to her cell and keep the peace with Hershey, when her worst pain-in-the-ass pushed past her on the way up, filling her vision with fiery red hair. "Oi Zelena! Watch where you're going!" she called after the slim, red-head who was bounding up the stairs two at a time.

Zelena didn't even pause her advance towards her own cells or even turn her head as she taunted back, "Aw Emma, missed your goodnight kiss did ya? What a shame." Her call echoed through the large, stone building.

"Oh don't hurt your brain Zelena." Emma shouted up towards the retreating back, unable to let Zelena have the final word. She shook her head and continued her descent towards her own cell on G2.

"Emma!"

Officer Hershey huffed vocally as she plodded across the landing towards Ashley Boyd's cell.

"If you wanted to see people Ashley you should've come downstairs, shouldn't you?!" she called through the sickly green painted metal door.

"I want to see the doctor" Ashley pleaded through the pain. "I'm bleeding."

"Oh here we go…" Hershey moaned shaking her head, fed up and entirely finished with moaning women today, but Ashley continued to plead with her; "I'm not right miss, I'm telling you."

"You need a sani-towel?" Hershey questioned. _Honestly, you'd think these women would know when to expect it; it's not like they've got a lot else to occupy their minds._

"I need seeing." Ashley implored again, but Hershey was having none of it.

"Just stop dramatising and get to bed. You can see the doctor in the morning if you're serious." Hershey shouted through the door one final time before plodding off again towards the stairs, more than ready to put her feet up. "Oh I'm going to murder a glass of wine" she mumbled to herself as she steps down onto the ground floor; fairly inappropriately given her surroundings.

"I need the doctor!" Ashley called out again, but her cries echoed onto the now silent landing of G3; her fellow-inmates securely locked up for the evening and the prison officers gathering in the wing office on the ground floor preparing for shift handover.

Hearing no response she collected herself as best she could and tried to stumble towards her bed, but the pain was too much and she fell to her knees just shy of it. The pain was longer coming in waves, instead it had settled for permanent residence in her abdomen and lower, and she struggled to pull herself up onto the thin mattress. She lay there crying out to no-one and her hands clutched her stomach, blood draining from between her legs drenched her nightgown and the mattress below her and she continued to cry out.

# # # #

* * *

Regina Mills guided her red Ford Fiesta to a stop at the red light in front of her, and using the stop to her benefit quickly flicked down the mirror above her head and pulled her fuck-me-red Chanel lipstick out of her purse. She applied it carefully, and smoothing her lips together appreciated her reflection in the small mirror. Her sleek, dark brown hair sat perfectly; her cut curling gently around the collar of her leather jacket. She rarely wore much make-up other than some tinted moisturiser and mascara, but her Chanel lipstick was a treat she afforded herself as she always felt an extra boost of confidence when she wore it, and confidence was a definite requirement for her position. Regina was the relatively new Wing Governor of 'G Wing' at HMP Storybrooke. Regina was a lot younger than most others who had held the position, thanks to being fast tracked into the prison systems graduate training scheme straight out of university. She had demonstrated clear passion and determination to improve the UKs prison system through her education, and following a fairly difficult upbringing, she felt a natural sense of justice and somewhat empathy for the incarcerated women she was determined to steer towards the straight and narrow. Still checking her appearance she jumped suddenly as she heard horns blare behind her and cursed to herself when she noticed the now green light. Quickly throwing her lipstick back into her purse, she pushed the stick into gear and speed through the crossing and on towards her destination. A few minutes later she pulled up to the first of many gates into the prison. She wound down the passenger window to talk to the guard but he opened the barrier and waved her through. "Don't you need to see some I.D.?" she questioned but the large, burly guard simply waved her on again. Smirking to herself that he'd finally learnt to recognise her, she steered the car carefully through the barriers and parked up. Grabbing her purse she climbed out of her car and inhaled deeply as she stared up at the imposing stone building that had once been a castle. Ready for the day she collected herself and marched confidently towards the second gate of many into the prison.

# # # #

* * *

The building was rapidly filling with the sounds of keys clanging, heavy cell doors creaking open and women greeting each other good morning, as the prison officers made their way through the landings un-locking the inmates of G wing. Senior Officer Hershey was making the rounds of G3 with fellow Officer David Nolan. "Breakfast ladies!" she called as she unlocked another cell door. "Come on, out you get, we haven't got all day!" she called as she yanked the key back out of the lock and moved on to the next door.

Across the landing from her Officer Nolan made his way towards Ashley Boyd's cell.

"Morning Ashley!" Nolan called as he unlocked the door. He hadn't even opened the door the whole way when he spotted her, a bloody mess lying unconscious on her bed. He froze as the scene burned into his mind. Her nightdress was pulled up her thighs, dark brown and red stains from pools of drying blood covering it and her mattress. Her face was pale with black smudges of mascara staining her skin and matting her blonde hair. Her form was curled into a ball with her left arm lying by her stomach. Her right arm was mostly pinned beneath her but her forearm was hanging limp and bruised off the edge of the metal frame of the bed, her right hand completely covered in red and black crusting blood. There was a small pool of blood on the floor where it had obviously been dripping off her hand.

"We need a doctor!" Nolan shouted out frantically, snapping out of his haze, and Hershey's head spun round towards his direction. Heart skipping a beat as she noticed he was at Ashley Boyd's cell she crossed the landing as fast as her aging legs would allow her.

"What?!" She queried as she rounded the corner to peer into the cell, and gasped. She grabbed Nolan's arm and shoved him in the direction of the three cells she had just unlocked. "Get those three back in their cell now. Do it!" Nolan faltered for only a second before he rushed over and ushered the woman back into their cells and secured the doors.

Hershey pulled the cell door to block Ashley's body from view but didn't close it and hastily pulled out her radio; "'Tango One' to 'Hotel'" she declared and waited for a response. "'Tango One' to 'Hotel'!" she repeated louder, panic lacing her voice.

# # # #

* * *

Regina was working steadily through a large stack of paperwork, which she swore had grown over-night, when a knock at her door interrupted her flow.

"Come in." she called and the door opened to reveal one of her officers; Robert Gold. He was dressed smartly in his crisp prison officer uniform though his hair was a little longer than regulations really permitted.

"Morning mam," he greeted, sipping from a steaming cup of tea as he entered her office.

Regina rolled her eyes, "Oh please Bobby, I'm not the bloody Queen" she responded, voicing her displeasure at being called mam. No way was she old enough to be called mam. Bobby Gold knew full well she disliked it but he revelled in taking stabs at her, no matter how small.

"Sorry, good morning Regina." He corrected emphasising her name as he made his way towards her window to stare out at the world below them.

"Morning Bobby," Regina replied sitting back in her chair, her lilac silk shirt pulling out of the waist of her skirt a little with the movement, waiting to hear the purpose of his visit, but it didn't offer itself. "So?" she probed, and Gold spun to face her almost as if he'd forgotten she was there in the first place.

"Right, I wanted a word with you about Annabelle French." he stated.

Regina had read every one of her in-mate files and the name was familiar but she was still fairly new and an image of the inmate eluded her. "French?" she queried.

"New young offender…first timer. She's on 30 months for intent to supply… we put her in the dorm…?"

Regina clicked; Annabelle French was only 19 and very pretty with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. She had a young child too Regina remembered.

"How's she settling in?" she asked genuinely concerned.

Gold sipped his tea again and mustered up his best impression of giving a shit. "Not too good. It worries me. Poor thing's got victim written all over her and if any of the other girls think she still has drug connections…" he paused sucking air through his teeth to emphasise his concern, "Well, I think we should try keep her out of harm's way until we can send her to open." He finished taking a large gulp of tea, watching Regina intently over the rim of the cup, waiting for her agreement.

Regina spared a second to think straightening up in her chair and smoothing out her shirt, "When we have a spare single we can move her up to 'enhanced'." G3, the third landing of G wing, was single cells reserved for well-behaved prisoners who were rewarded with an 'enhanced' status; entitling those to personal cells, better work assignments and other perks.

This was a good start but Gold wanted a little more. He paused and settled his mug on Regina's desk as he paced a little, pretending to think. He stopped and turned back to face her; "We could put her on red band though couldn't we?" he raised his eyebrows towards Regina, "Let her work for us in the office?" he shrugged.

Regina felt a wave of mistrust flow through her as she observed Gold. He talked a good talk but there was always something about him that didn't sit right with her. His apparent concern for Annabelle French was making her uncomfortable.

"You think she's that stable?" she asked. It wasn't a good idea to put too much pressure on an in-mate, especially one who was completely new to the system like Annabelle.

Gold shrugged, "I think she'd be a normal kid on her way to college given a chance." He answered and it connected with a deep belief within Regina.

"So might most of the women out there," she countered in defence of every other woman on her wing.

Gold was getting frustrated now but he knew he had to go about this the right way. He had already born witness to Regina Mills uncompromising nature and knew he couldn't go against her guns blazing; he needed to attack her emotional side. Women.

"Yeah? Well I'm willing to put my own money on her, otherwise I think she'll go under." He stated knowing Regina couldn't ignore the possibility of losing an in-mate with so much potential to repeat offender status.

She knew she couldn't ignore it either and relented. "Okay, go ahead." She agrees, authorising Gold to assign Annabelle office work duty. He smiled, nodded and made his way to leave.

"Uh Bobby," Regina called and he cursed under his breath before turning back to her, raising his eyebrows in question.

Regina looked up at him and nodded towards his cup still sitting on her desk.

He made a face indicating his shock at forgetting in and reached forward to collect it. Regina smirked at her minor victory over his pathetic attempt to walk over her, as he turned his back to her again making his way out the door, a little more successfully this time.


	2. Chapter 2

AUTHORS NOTE:

Hi all, thanks for all your love and support so far! I just wanted to add a little note here to say that I will be making reference to other OUaT characters but due to the nature and environment of the story I'm borrowing most of them will be fairly out of character - I have altered their names a little to reflect these changes but I wanted to keep familiar faces around to pay homage the reason we're here in the first place! I am hoping that Emma and Regina will be able to stay to character fairly well but please let me know what you think as we go along.

Thanks again!

* * *

It wasn't long before the paramedics arrived and hastily removed Ashley from her room, on a gurney. The lower two landings of the wing had been unlocked after Ashley was removed from sight and the in-mates were already well into their breakfast routine. The inmates of G3, however, were still waiting and had been told nothing. They sat stewing in their cells oblivious to the cause except for hearing a few calls for help and the bounding of steel capped boots up the metal stairway.

Officer Nolan was waiting by Ashley's cell for Senior Officer Hershey when she got back from escorting the paramedics, and Ashley, through the wing security.

"Is she going to be alright?" he asked, his face pale and a little sweaty. Hershey ignored his question and swung open the door to Ashley's cell to survey the clean-up required.

"Go get me two cleaners up." She ordered Nolan. After all, it was certainly not her job to clean up the bloody mess left by an in-mate in her cell.

Nolan was struggling to process really anything. "Huh?"

Hershey huffed and flapped her hands at him in a bid to hurry him along; "From the kitchen, quick!"

"Shouldn't we let the others out though? They'll be wondering what's going on?" Nolan suggested, still feeling rather unwell.

Hershey turned to stare him down; "How do you think I got these two pips on my shoulder David? To be cheeked by you? How do you think they'll react when they see this mess?! Do you want to deal with that because I certainly don't? Now go and fetch me those cleaners!"

Nolan knew better than to delay any further and bolted down the stairs; a little concerned that his light headedness may mean he'd fall down them faster.

Officer April Booth was supervising breakfast when Officer Nolan came flying into the dining hall, barely able to slow himself down from the momentum of running down the stairs.

"Oi David, what's keeping the threes?" she called but he flew past her towards the kitchen.

"I need Anna and Elsa, now!" he called and the two women came running out to him, their hands already covered with marigolds.

* * *

Annabelle French was more or less oblivious to the ruckus up on G3; she had only been there a few days but she had already learnt that the gossip would get around to her sooner or later so she didn't need to be in the thick of it right now. She grabbed a tray and her plastic mug and joined the queue for breakfast. Without the G3 in-mates, she made it to the serving counter quicker than usual, where she was met with the fiery red-head.

"Egg and sausage please," she asked Zelena as politely as she could.

Zelena ignored her order and smiling wickedly leaned forward over the food trays to whisper to her. "Have you spoken your friend yet? About what I asked you?" she queried, her smile never faltering. It was all about looks in this place. The screws couldn't accuse her of being threatening when her face was as sweet as sugar and spice.

Annabelle tried her best to keep eye contact but her nerves got the better of her as she replied, "I…I can't talk to them."

Zelena pulled herself back over the counter and scooped up a huge spoonful of grey goop and slapped it onto Annabelle's tray. "Can't you?" she asked, still grinning.

Annabelle didn't respond as she accepted her punishment and moved towards the tables, her whole being a little smaller and weaker.

Vicky DeVille was next in line and Zelena smiled brightly.

"Double for you eh Vix?" she said louder than necessary so that Annabelle would definitely hear her.

Vicky laughed towards Annabelle and accepted "Thanks Zel." Zelena loaded Vicky's tray with sausages and eggs and jabbed her spoon towards Annabelle; "She'll have to earn it."

Annabelle heard every word and her body sank further in her chair. She picked up her spoon and forced herself to eat whatever that grey gloop was; knowing full well this would probably be as good as she was going to get for the foreseeable future. She thought one second further and resolved herself that she may as well eat up now before Zelena cut her off from food completely. She had already seen enough of Zelena and Vicky to know that they could make it happen with the officers being none-the-wiser, or at least not giving two shits.

Emma was just scraping the last of her cold, inedible breakfast into the bin when she saw Elsa and Anna being ushered up the stairs, loaded with mops and buckets. Looking around she noticed that none of the level 3 women had been down for breakfast yet. Pushing up the sleeves of her royal blue hoodie she made her way over to Officer Booth, who stood leant against the bars separating the dining hall and the rest of the wing, her arms tightly folded. "What's keeping the threes?" she questioned.

"Nothing, they're just held up."

Emma noticed Booth's passive attitude and pressed for more; "Why what's going on?" and for a minute Booth looked like she was about to reply before she caught herself and turned to face Emma with a complacent look clearly layered on her face; "Why have I got to tell you?"

Emma shrugged it off and turned to watch Elsa and Anna make their way up the final flight of stairs to where Officer Hershey pushed them forward into Ashley Boyd's cell.

"Right you two, get in."

Anna and Elsa recoiled as soon as they saw the blood soaked bed, and dropped the buckets in favour of throwing their hands over their mouths in shock.

"Oh my god!"

"Where's Ashley?!"

Emma heard them shout Ashley's name and immediately sprang up and ran for the stairs jumping two at a time. "Anna?!" She called enquiring.

Anna called out from the cell with no thought at all to the chaos she was about to instigate; that Officer Hershey had been trying to prevent.

"Emma! Somethings happened to Ashely!"

Emma reached the second floor and flew around the landing to the next set of stairs. "What? What's wrong?" she called frantically and she started up towards G3 but Officer Nolan blocked her path.

Hershey shoved Anna back into the cell; "Get in!"

"Oh Em! It's horrible!" Anna called and as she moved further into the cell Emma's view was no longer obscured.

"ASHLEY!"

* * *

Regina Mills was furious.

She stood strong as steel dressed in a crisp, tailored pant suit, as rage burnt through every vein her body and it took every last bit of willpower she had not to tear the heads off the two Senior Officers who sat before her. She waited in deathly silence for one of them to speak, and Hershey delivered.

"I'm sorry ma'am. I've been under a lot of strain lately, all these back to backs." Hershey offered pathetically.

Regina held her tone as steady as she could but she could feel the emotion creeping into her throat.

"A woman miscarried and almost bled out in her cell." She stated delivering each word very clearly, "and thanks to **you** involving the cleaners, most of G wing will have heard the worst of it by now." She continued unable to stop the volume of her voice rising. "So I need to know from you **exactly** ,how it happened!"

Hershey's face was full of disbelief and dismay. "It must have happened out of the blue, ma'am. I'm completely shocked; there was not a thing wrong with her at lock up." She spurted out.

Regina wasn't fooled. "Really?"

Hershey shrugged and continued, "Apart from she said she was tired, or I would've said to the night patrol wouldn't I?" she stated more than asked, and Regina fought back the question of 'would you?' and instead responded;

"Even though she asked to see the doctor?"

Hershey scoffed, "Oh if we sent them every time they ask you that, honestly…" she trailed off, "Especially her, she's always complaining of something."

"Ashley does have a bad rep for timewasting" Gold piped up in Hershey's defence. Regina eyes flared towards Gold before returning to Hershey.

"Well I've just come back from speaking to her, and she insists she told you she was bleeding."

Hershey's mouth fell open in shock, and Regina was sure if she'd done it any faster she would have dislocated her jaw.

"No she never! Bleeding?! She just told me she wanted to see the doctor." Hershey implored.

As calm as ever Gold countered; "Did she tell the night patrol?"

Regina sighed; of course he would find someone else to lay the blame on.

"They thought she was sleeping so didn't bother her, now we can assume she was barely conscious at the time." She could hear her voice rising again, "Had Senior Officer Hershey taken the trouble…"

"…she didn't think there was any reason…" Gold interrupted, who was further interrupted by Hershey herself. "Well I didn't. She was just doing the usual."

Regina turned away from them exasperated, and paused briefly to stare out the window. They had this all neatly wrapped up.

"So this is all her own fault is it?"

When she received no reply, she turned back to face them raising her voice; "Well?!"

Gold slouched back on his chair, his face doing its best to look like he cared. "Regina, it's just a tragic set of circumstance."

Regina stared him down but there was little else she could say. She pondered her next move. If she didn't react publicly about it she would have anarchy on her hands as the gossip spread further and dirtier. She sighed heavily and addressed Gold.

"I have to speak to the women; please call a wing meeting as soon as possible."

Gold shook his head and stood up in a bid to speak to her as equal, "Look I really think..." he inhaled, "Don't we think we should sit tight, you know until feelings die down." He nodded towards her as if she would go along with it just because he said it. He truly wasn't seeing who she was at all was he?

Regina eyes burned into his and she licked across her teeth trying to keep calm, "No I don't." she stated. "I think we should be seen as caring right now."

Gold held her gaze and without looking away nodded towards Hershey who followed suit and got up. Regina stared back at him in silence until he knew he had lost and turned, guiding Hershey and himself towards the door.

As Gold shut the door behind him Hershey piped up; "…and not even a cup of tea."

Hershey continued to babble on about Regina's attitude as they made their way back to the wing.

"She sounds a bit too much of the prisoners friend to me."

Gold unlocked the gate in front of them and held it open for Hershey to cross onto the wing, as he replied.

"Well let's see what she has to say to the girls." He locked the gate behind them and checked the lock. "And leave out the 'ma'am' in future; she doesn't appreciate it."

Hershey laughed. "Doesn't mind playing it though does she?" she countered.

Officer Booth greeted them as they entered the wing office; "How'd it go?"

Gold smiled "Well we're in the clear but she wants the whole unit assembled for a wing meeting now."

April's face screwed up as she looked down at her freshly made cup of tea. "What, right now?"

Gold picked up her tea and took a large sip. "You better help Cora unlock," he ordered as he made his way out towards the wing. He made his way towards the dorm rooms on the ground floor and unlocked the first cell.

* * *

All of the inmates of G wing had gathered around the landings of each floor in preparation for the wing meeting. Most of the women preferred to be on the staircase or one of the landings so they could better see what was going on. Most of the prison officers were gathered around the ground floor on either side of the barred gates, waiting for Wing Governor Regina Mills.

Emma, Anna and Elsa were grouped on the second floor landing.

"We just feel so terrible, we had no idea." Elsa commented to Emma, the genuine sympathy obvious on her face, and she dragged her bright blonde air round her neck to twist it nervously as they waited for Mills.

"Though we did hear her tell Hershey she wanted to see the doctor." Anna added. Elsa continued, "Then she went quiet."

"And then we just assumed she'd headed off to bed" Anna finished. Emma watched the sisters talk back and forth, their distress at the situation clearly evident in their stumbling to finish each-other's sentences, and she felt anger build inside herself.

Elsa's ice blue eyes stared intently into Emma's, "Hershey; she must have seen how weak Ashley was." she said. Anna leant her ginger head on Elsa's shoulder and rubbed her sister's back, offering some comfort. Emma held Elsa's gaze and assured her, "If that bitch doesn't pay for this, I'm dragging this shit to the top." Her blue eyes had deepened their colour in anger and she clenched her fists at her sides in an attempt to release some of the pent up energy. Anna looked over at her, and nodded; "Elsa and I have already decided; we're calling all the kitchen women out on strike." Emma didn't have a chance to respond as Gold's voice reverberated around the stone walls as he called for silence, signifying the arrival of Regina Mills onto the wing.

"LETS HAVE SOME QUIET FOR MISS MILLS." He called as Regina Mills was lead through the gate and onto the ground floor. She wasn't a tall woman but she stood confidently, surrounded by her officers, looking up at the women whose welfare she was responsible for. She wore a stark black power pantsuit over a crisp white blouse and black court heels. Her dark, shoulder length hair sat neatly against the collar of her blazer and her deep, red lipstick was striking against her monochrome outfit, highlighting the scar on her top lip. She liked to think it added a subtle edge to her appearance, and she needed every bit of self-confidence she had right now. This was not going to be easy in the slightest.

The women had silenced in response to Gold's order and were eagerly awaiting what Mills had to say.

"Thank you," she called out, speaking clearly and loudly to ensure every woman could hear her. "Now I'm sure by now you all know that last night Ashley Boyd suffered a miscarriage in her room which was not discovered until first unlock."

The women erupted in a sea of questions and comments and Regina spoke louder still, making sure to meet as many eyes as she could find in the crowd. "Now I know you all must be feeling very upset about this, as am I and so are my officers I can assure you!"

The volume of questions and comments rose further to meet her and she straightened up standing taller, trying to focus all of her energy and confidence into her posture and her speech.

"I personally went to see Ashely this morning in hospital and can report that she will soon be well enough to be back with us."

This was not the right thing to say and the women responded with anger.

"Back here?!" "That'll do her fucking good won't it?!" "I bet she doesn't want to be well enough to be back here!"

Emma watched Regina Mills struggle to deliver her little speech over the volume of the inmates and felt an intense desire to see Mills be crushed by them completely. How could she possibly stand there and assure them her officers were upset; they were the bastards who let it happen in the first place. Emma bit her tongue but she could feel every nerve in her body bubbling with anger and injustice.

"I spoke to her about what happened and assured her I would conduct a full and thorough examination into how and why she was left unattended." Regina continued, keeping her voice as clear and as loud as she could, hoping that the women would understand her, but her next sentence already felt like tiny blades cutting her throat with its lies. "Now I have since interviewed all officers concerned…" she paused praying that no-one would hear the difficulty she had dragging it out of her throat, "…but I have to conclude that what happened here was a tragic set of circumstances." She echoed Gold's earlier heartless summation of the situation.

Emma couldn't hold herself back any longer and yelled out horrified at Regina's statement; "A what?! She nearly bleed to **death**! You should all be sacked!" she spat in Regina's direction.

Regina heard Emma's comments clearly but she ignored them, and the other women's, and continued. She felt like she was going to be sick as she continued, everything about this felt wrong.

"I'm sorry, but as far as I can conclude there are no grounds for disciplinary action. However, I **will** make **immediate** changes to procedure so no more accidents like this can ever happen here again."

There was no stopping Emma now. "What you mean accident? It wasn't an accident!" and Anna and Elsa were right there to support her; "She was calling for a doctor!" "We heard her!"

"And so did that cow!" Anna yelled, pointing hard at Cora who stood on Regina's left side, "and so how come she didn't lift a finger?!"

The three had prompted even more shouts of rage and Regina couldn't speak over them any longer, so she pleaded, "Will you please! Everyone!" but it was Gold who again commanded silence;

"Quiet! **NOW**!"

The women's shouts died down and Regina nodded towards him in thanks before addressing the women again; "Thank you…" but before she could continue Emma interrupted her.

"No, let me say it for her." She called out to the women as she made her way down the metal stairs to the ground floor.

Regina's head snapped round towards Emma's voice with a stare in her eyes that should have struck Emma dead on the spot.

"What she's telling us…" Emma started, struggling to break eye contact with Regina to address the women, "Is were not even safe in here, are we?" She gathered her energy and looked away. She looked around the wing and pushed her voice out towards them all; "Because even if we're bleeding to death in here… they won't believe us."

The women began to call out again, supporting Emma and cheering her on. Regina found herself unable to voice the rage burning within her. Her jaw clenched her mouth shut and her fists bunched by her sides; her heart was beating hard and fast in her chest sending wave after wave of adrenaline around her lithe body and she was ready to fight, but she held it back.

"Well I'm telling her from us," Emma turned back to face Regina, "You can't run this prison unless we help you," she spat through clenched teeth. She smirked a little as an idea swept into her brain and as usual, didn't even pause before it made its way straight out through her mouth, "and if we don't get respect…" she emphasised pointedly, "…we're sure as hell not going to make you look good in front of the VIPs." Emma crossed her arms smugly after seeing the faces of the other officers fall, but she faltered a little when she saw the resolve stay well and truly put on Regina's face and decided to really end it; "You can shove the fashion show… up your ass!"

Before Emma had finished the word 'ass' Regina had stormed right up to the in-mate and drew eye level with her. Emma held Regina's eye contact firmly; her own eyes filled with fire and recognising the same in Regina and for a second, though it felt infinitely longer, the world dissolved and enraptured in rage, they were the only people in the room… until Regina broke the silence and reminded them bluntly where they were. "Fine." She stated.

Regina held Emma's stare but addressed the whole wing, a little louder now. "Consider it cancelled. This wing will not be taking part."

The women erupted again, and sensing the end of the meeting, the other officers moved to start getting them back under control. Regina didn't move.

"You..." she points very deliberately right in Emma's face. "…are on rule 43." She drops her hand and Emma's face falls. _Shit_.

Regina's voice raised again but this time she addressed her officers; "Lock them up!"

Regina turns away from Emma without another word, and as fast as she entered Emma's space, she has left again and was making her way towards the wing exit.

Emma had barely a second to register before two officers rushed up and roughly grabbed each of her arms, holding her still.

"Regina!" Gold calls after her as she starts to unlock the wing gate. "Regina, please can we talk about this?" he pleads. Regina turns to face him, eyes still on fire.

"Once thing you better learn about me Bobby: when I make a decision I stick to it." She replied determined to make him understand her.

"But the girls, they're so excited. This will just have them kick off even more." Gold implored; like hell he wants to deal with them after this.

Regina shook her head in disbelief at him, and lowered her voice, speaking through gritted teeth; "Do you think I believe all that shit from Cora?" She asked knowing full well he doesn't. "I just had to face a near riot out there because of what she let happen so don't you blame me for coming down heavy."

Gold has no answer and huffing, left towards the wing to help the other officers as Regina slammed the key into the lock and roughly yanked it open to let herself off the wing.

"Oh shut it!" Gold called to the rowdy in-mates who were shouting and flailing in the officers' grip as they guided them back into their cells. "The sooner you calm down the sooner you get out."

Once he saw the other officers have a hold of the situation, Gold made his way over to Emma and nodding to one of the other officers to let go, released some of his anger by taking the officers place roughly grabbing hold of Emma's arm, and threw her forwards towards the wing exit. She wasn't ready for the movement and stumbled forward causing her to pull on the other officer's arm, who in retaliation, wrenches her back into a standing position and the pair of them forced her forwards.

They made their way down the corridor to the cold, damp solitary cells. Gold and the other officer were practically carrying Emma as she attempted to fight out of their grip.

"I can walk on my own!" she yelled out.

Gold pushed her against the wall as the other officer let go to unlock the door to her new home. She rubbed her arm where a red hand print was still visible but didn't have time to catch her breath before Gold grabbed her again and shoved her through the open cell door. She just about managed to stay on her feet and twisted to glare at him, but Gold just smirked back at her and nodded towards the other officer.

"Put her in the strips." His eyes flashed at Emma and her mouth fell open.

"That'll give her something to moan about. Get her clothes off!"


	3. Chapter 3

AUTHORS NOTE:

I'm sorry for the delay folks and even still this is sort of a rush chapter as I really wanted to get something posted for you guys ASAP!

I have been incredibly busy lately; including work, Storybrooke 3 (I met Lana!), work, betaing for my girl GreekRegal.24's SQ fic Happily Ever After?, work and messing with some cover 'art' for OzzyJ's SQ fic: Drag the Waters - I've had a bit of a sneak peak at where she's taking that story and damn! you do not want to miss it!

Your feedback is always appreciated and reviews/faves/follows are love!

Thanks for sticking guys. 3

* * *

Gold had several motivations for ensuring the fashion show went ahead and he wasn't sure which one held the most power. The more he did for his girls, the more they owed him in return; and being able to go above Regina's head and overturn her decisions made his 'rewards' all the more sweet. After some consideration though, he realised it would be better if she didn't find out it was him; which did put a dampener on his warm, fuzzy feelings of victory but he really didn't need any extra attention from Regina Mills.

He made a quick phone-call right to the top, the number one and it proved the correct move. Prison Governor Albert Spencer was not at all happy with Regina Mill's decision to remove G wing from participating in the fashion show.

"I do think it would really upset the girls to not get to take part, and we don't want that do we Sir?" Gold said in his most sympathetic tone; which wasn't completely necessary with Albert but Gold thought it better to not let on that he may have other motives than keeping the peace.

Albert Spencer had been in the prison service long enough to know that keeping the girls happy was the key to a smooth running prison and he felt overlooking the indiscretion of a 'couple of out-of-turn comments' would be worth it in the long run. That and he didn't fancy having to explain why a whole wing was missing from the fashion show. He needed to show off his prison and his girls to the state; show them what a fantastic job he was doing. Admitting that one of his subordinates had let a wing get out of control to warrant their absence would not support that image would it?

"I appreciate your concern Bobby; I will of course have a word with Regina."

Gold smiled to himself, revelling a little in his victory already. One last thing; "And Albert, I would hate if Regina thought I'd gone over her head, but I really had to say something, so I'd appreciate it if she wasn't made aware of the origin of this…suggestion."

"I completely understand." Spencer replied, and he really did, it was important to keep the women in his life more or less oblivious.

Annabelle was trying her best to keep her head down and keep out of anyone's way but having Zelena's lackey, Vicky, for a cellmate made it impossible. She spent most of her days confined to her cell, knowing Vicky preferred to spend her time causing havoc with Zelena on the wing. Prisoners weren't allowed in each-others cells which meant that Annabelle could usually get some peace and quiet during the day, while they were preoccupied making some other woman's life a misery. However, that was little comfort to Annabelle when she felt in constant fear of lock-up, when the cell door was locked in the evening, and Vicky had no-one else but her to torture.

Vicky was on her way up to see Zelena when she caught sight of Anabelle out of the corner of her eye, sitting in her cell looking through the few pictures she had of what looked like her young son. Vicky decided Zelena would appreciate it if she gave Annabelle a little chase about their previous conversations.

"Give us a smoke." she demanded nodding towards Annabelle from the doorway.

Annabelle looked up and was unable to stop the fear that flashed across her face before she got a hold of herself a little. She tucked her photos under her pillow and picked up the limp packet of cigarettes sitting beside her.

"I've only got one." She replied shrugging and attempted to tuck the packet away again.

Vicky lunged forward, roughly grabbing the packet from Annabelle's hand and huffed right in her face. "Well now you've got none!"

Annabelle felt her hand stinging from where Vicky's long nails must have cut her skin and she bit her tongue lightly in an attempt to distract herself from reacting to the pain.

Vicky moved a little closer to whisper in her ear "You better get some blow bringing in or you've had it." Annabelle could feel Vicky's spit land on her cheek but she didn't dare move.

"Annabelle." A voice called from the doorway, saving her.

Vicky slowly withdrew smiling towards Anabelle and turned to greet the intruder. "All right Miss?" she asked Officer Booth who was watching their interaction very carefully. April nodded in response to Vicky and addressed Annabelle again.

"Come on Annabelle, you've got work to do."

Annabelle, more than grateful for the interruption, got up quickly and made her way out the door. Officer Booth followed close behind as they made their way towards the wing office to get started on her new work duty thanks to Officer Gold's recommendation.

* * *

"Albert, I really have to disagree…" Regina replied, beginning to pace her office as far as the telephone wire would let her, exasperated by the whole conversation. "We can't let them get away with kicking off every time they get angry or upset about something."

"I do understand your view Regina but there is no way they can be absent. The entire board is visiting along with two MPs, a whole host of campaigners… How can I explain to them why an entire wing isn't taking part." Albert's monotone drawled back through the phone.

"Albert, if we allow them to dictate…" she tried…

"I'm asking you to think again how you can solve this problem. Honestly Regina, there's a lot more at stake here than your pride."

"Yes, Sir." She placed the phone back on it's holding and fought to stop herself from throwing it across the room. Groaning outwardly she slumped down into her chair and buried her head in her hands on her desk. Was she going to have to defend every situation she made? It wasn't even about her pride; going back on your decisions was not a good way to govern a women's prison. True, they weren't happy with this decision, but she needed the women to trust her and part of that trust comes from her doing what she says she will. Damn the 'old boys club'; she had to find a way to make this work without the women thinking she was to be walked all over.

She counted her breaths in her head to try to calm herself down, when an idea came to her. Not only could it help her with the fashion show, but she might be able to get a two for one.

Shaking her head free of the tension she got up, straightened her blazer, flicked out her dark hair and marched out of her office, head held high. She was going to try and get Emma Swan onside, but first she had some 'revenge' to settle, and then she needed the largest glass she had full of red wine.

* * *

The wing office wasn't a big space, and was smaller still with even only three officers in residence.

"Well I'm happy" Cora Hershey said as she thumbed through the weekly paper, "Saves us a load of bother."

"Come on Cora," Gold sighed, "The girls have put a lot of work into that fashion show, they're gutted."

"What else could the Governor do?" David Nolan chimed up in Regina's defence, turning from his paperwork. "At least she tried to be open about it."

Gold huffed and continued flicking through his own files, "What the Governor needs David, is a bit more jail craft."

"Quite," Hershey agreed, "And what I need is a brew!" she added. "Where is April with that new tea girl? she queried turning to ask Gold, slapping her paper on the coffee table. Gold turned to answer her and spotted Regina in the doorway.

"Regina!" he called, half surprised, half to alert his colleague to keep her mouth shut.

Regina flashed him her brightest smile and made her way into the office.

"Who's least busy?" she asked as Cora quickly picked up a clipboard and looked ever so intently preoccupied. "Cora?"

David chimed up, "It's probably me." Fortunately for him though Regina had a little punishment to settle.

"I'm afraid it's gender sensitive David." Regina said with the most sincere voice she could muster given her excitement at her pending delegation.

"Cora, I need you to help out front; we've got someone with a particularly difficult hygiene problem…" She paused knowing her next sentence would achieve the reaction she was after.

"One of our regular old shoplifters apparently."

Cora Hershey's face went wide with shock. Bingo! There it was.

"Oh not smelly Nelly Edwards?" she pleaded more than asked.

Regina beamed back at her, "See I knew you'd remember!" she grinned, please with her small but satisfying revenge. "She needs a top to toe please."

Cora Hershey begrudgingly got up and shuffled out the door, and Regina turned towards Gold.

"So you thought you'd go over my head Bobby?" She quizzed, eyebrows raised. "Man to man? The way the prisoner service loves best?" She snarled sarcastically. Gold faltered a little and his gaze shifted to David before replying.

"David, don't you have something to be getting on with?" he queried and David took the hint and made a swift exit from the office, and the quickly gathering tension.

Regina wasn't ready to let Gold try to defend himself yet though. "I know you've got a problem with me Bobby; my age, my background, the fact that I'm a woman." She trailed off, her rich voice lacing around the words, as she stared him down. "Look, I want to come into work and get on with it, and I don't expect us to agree all the time but tell me to my face, don't go sneaking behind my back." She almost spat at him, "and then I can trust you." She added but she knew in her heart of hearts it would take a long time and a lot of effort on his part before she trusted him completely.

However, Gold didn't appease her, and didn't give her the reaction she was hoping for.

"But I did tell you Regina; both before and after chatting with number one, but you weren't interested and…" he paused deliberately, scrunching his lips together, "I still haven't heard you admit you made a mistake." He trailed off watching her intently, begging for a reaction. He thought for a second and decided to try a different aggravation. His eyes gleaming, he continued, "Maybe we could meet and discuss it over a rink sometime?" he asked.

Regina's eyes flared with fire and she was seething but she bit her tongue and made no attempt at a comeback; she needed to remain professional and allowing herself to open her mouth right now would throw all of that out the window.

The smirk smudged across his face gave away his feelings of victory and huffing at her he turned his back and made his way out of the office.

Regina sighed, "bastard."

* * *

Still relishing in his victory over Regina, Gold makes his way towards Zelena to reap some more rewards. He made sure no-one else was in the kitchen and slid up behind her, incredibly close, and tucked her red hair back to whisper in her ear. "You're going to want to thank me over and over again tonight."

Zelena twisted out of his reach and crossed her arms defiantly. "Oh yeah?"

Gold wasn't deterred in the slightest and moved towards her again, his hands finding her hips and pulling her in close. "Yes really. The fashion show is back on thanks to me."

Zelena relented a little and uncrossed her arms allowing Gold's chest to press against her breasts. "What about the Evil Queen?" she queried.

Gold laughed low and throaty in her ear as his stubble rubbed rough against her cheek. "Regina is no match for me, dearie."

Zelena pulled her head back to look him in the eyes and the gleam she found there matched her own. Grateful, she replied, "You better hope so, but if you're right then maybe I should thank you…properly…"

* * *

She had turned the water as hot as she could stand it and let it burn through her skin and into muscles. Regina raked her hand through her hair, making sure every bit of it was soaking wet, before pouring some shampoo onto her hand and massaging it into her head. She tried her best to press out out all the stress of the day, but somehow her own hands just weren't hitting the spot. She gave up and rinsed the shampoo out, watching the bubbles fade away down the drain; much like her dreams to influence improvement in the prison system…

She soaped and rinsed her body, letting the soft smell of her almond and coconut body wash fill her nostrils and calm her. As she stepped out of the shower, she heard the front door open and close. She pulled a warm towel from the radiator and made her way into the bedroom drying herself off. She shrugged on a pair of soft sweats and a t-shirt, and dumped the damp towel back in the bathroom in favour of a smaller, dryer one and began to towel dry her hair as she made her way into the living room to great her boyfriend.

Graham Hunter was sorting through a stack of papers when his girlfriend appeared in the doorway roughing her hair with the towel. He looked up, eyes dark but bright, and smiled at her fresh, flushed face from her recent shower.

"Hi baby."

Regina smiled back. "Hiya" and moved closer to kiss him briefly on the lips, his beard roughing her cheek.

"How was your day?" Graham asked, looking back to his paperwork, as if he wasn't about to get lucky.

Regina inadvertently answered the question; "Let's get pissed tonight."

Regina lay across most of the sofa, her legs pulled up and a large glass of red wine held firmly in her hand. The bottle on the coffee table was already more than half empty, and Graham wasn't even drinking it. Graham was squeezed in beside her, his beer balancing precariously on the arm of the sofa as he focused again on the paperwork from earlier.

* * *

"So your mini crisis went maxi." He stated passively in response to Regina's explanation of the day's events.

She huffed. "Fucking mafia. And I played right into their hands." She shook her head at herself and took another large gulp of wine.

She poked a foot out and poked Graham's thigh. "Will you give me a shoulder massage?"

He didn't look up as he replied, "Just give me half an hour and I'll be yours. I really need to finish this estimate."

Regina poked him again. "What good is being a freelance landscaper if you can't set your own hours?" she quizzed teasing.

Graham laughed and looked up at her pouting face, "You need a damn good fucking, that's what you need." He replied and she laughed snuggling back into the sofa.

"Oh well, it's only a job, who cares." She muttered, thinking aloud. "I want a job like yours. No asshole co-workers, no stress, high satisfaction…" she trailed off listing the benefits of working for yourself.

Graham sighed, "You'd miss the people contact though."

Regina was sure in that moment that she absolutely would not. "No I wouldn't!"

"Regina, this job is not for you, you couldn't be bothered to water your window boxes!" he laughed remembering the first time she'd invited him into her home and allowed him to see all her dying plants begging for love, or at least some water!

Regina laughed, remembering herself. "True."

She pursed her lips again, "You've got that fantastic feeling of doing something really well that you totally believe in. Why can't I have that?"

Graham didn't respond as he carried on with his estimate.

Her face scrunched up as she thought it through; all the hard work she'd put into her education and all the passion she felt for the job. Today had stamped it all out of her and left her with nothing but apprehension; she needed to get absolutely drunk and shake it off and when she woke up the next morning she would forget that she ever felt weak. She was better than this. She was Regina Mills.

* * *

AUTHOR HERE AGAIN:

Remember this is a slow burn, especially as I'm finding my feet with it, but I promise we will get another Emma/Regina scene next chapter - and after that they won't be as far between!

If you keep reading and reviewing, I promise to keep writing!


	4. Chapter 4

Annabelle felt a little hopeful for the first time in months, since she was arrested. Working in the Wing Office was the perfect distraction, not to mention it appeared to be a rather coveted position. She wondered if it was because it felt like being able to connect with real life again. The office had a kettle, coffee machine, computers and phones; everything they weren't allowed in their cells; working in there felt a little like she was free again, the office could have been any office. Even the prison officers had been more or less polite to her so far; sure they demanded a cup of tea now and again but that was a lot nicer than most of the orders they gave on the wing. She pondered it all as she separated the pile of reports into appropriate stacks and swept a dust cloth over the desk. Her heart fell a little when her mind betrayed her and allowed her to wonder how long it might be before Zelena managed to ruin this for her. Working in the office was a privilege work duty; only the most trusted and well behaved inmates would be allowed to work there. All the confidential stuff was locked away of course but phone and computer were more or less accessible, and even the chance of making a cup of coffee from a fancy machine felt like a luxury holiday.

"Any tea Annabelle?" a voice called pulling her out of her daydream of thoughts. She turned to great Officer Gold and smiled.

"Yeah. Of course. I'll just bring this kettle back up to boil Sir." She replied and leaned over to flick the switch.

Gold tilted his head a little as the waist tie of Annabelle's apron pulled tight at her waist as she leant forward; it nipped her already small waist and accentuated her ass; and he appreciated it fully.

Annabelle straightened up and carried on with her tasks; knowing her role was to be seen and not really heard, and certainly not in the way. She moved away from the desk and began to clear the gathering mugs from the small coffee table.

Gold shuffled the stack of paperwork her was holding and made his way to the desk. He hummed approvingly at the piles Annabelle had created. He pulled a key from his chain and unlocked the filling cabinet to store the paperwork in the relevant section.

The kettle clicked off and echoed around the silent room. Annabelle tucked her cloth into her apron and hastily made her way back to the counter and made Gold's tea. She held it out carefully to him, burning her hands on the mug so he could grab the handle.

He accepted it thankfully. "You put the sugars in?" he asked, sipping the tea anyway to check. Annabelle nodded silently.

Gold smiled. "That's my girl" he said winking. He took another sip and sighed satisfactorily, "Perfect".

Annabelle remained silent and wanted to get back to her work but somehow felt compelled to stay in Gold's presence.

"So," he began, "How's it going? Are they leaving you alone now?" he quizzed looking genuinely interested. Annabelle stared up at him and remembered everything she had been trying all morning in the office to forget. It came flooding all at once and she couldn't stop her eyes from letting some of it out. Gold placed his tea carefully on the side and moved closer to her.

"Hey, what is it?"

Annabelle shook her head and dropped to try and stop him from seeing her tears. "Don't make me go back to the dorm, I'm scared."

Gold's finger found her chin and tilted it up to look her in the eyes, "I promised to look after you, didn't I?"

There was something about him and she couldn't place it. He felt dangerous but she also felt kind of safe with him; like no one could really hurt her, except him. He did say he would look after her and so far he had gotten her the job. Her head twisted with fear and her intuition was alarming constantly; she needed to be safe.

"I'll sort it out love, don't worry."

He was going to make her safe.

The thought had barely entered her head before she had pushed up on her toes and smashed her lips against Golds. He inhaled abruptly in shock and took her by the shoulders and pressed her back away from him.

"Wow, Annabelle." He commented, but didn't let go of her shoulders. He stared intently at her, and she started to cry again. Her head fell and he smiled…or sneered? "Just calm down" he whispered and stroked her cheek.

"Why don't you go to the bathroom and take a minute." He suggested and she wordlessly nodded and left the office.

Gold licked his lips and felt very pleased with himself; he had her exactly where he wanted her.

* * *

It wasn't the first hangover Regina Mills had ever had; not by a long shot, but after drifting to sleep promising herself she would wake up confident and strong she was a little bitter about her taunting headache. She pulled open her top desk drawer and routed around for a few seconds until her fingers felt the tell-tale feel of a half-used packed of paracetamol. She popped two in her mouth and washed them down with almost a full bottle of water.

Shaking her head and shoulders to loosen up; she regretted the move instantly, but dragged herself from her desk all the same and left her office heading in Emma Swan's solitary direction.

* * *

Officer Stewart unlocked the heavy cell door to the solitary cell and pushed it inwards to reveal Emma Swan. Regina stepped forward and immediately froze at Emma's appearance.

"What the hell is she doing in strips?!" Regina demanded to know, but proceeded without waiting for a response. "Get her clothes in here immediately!" she ordered Stewart, who mumbled something incoherent and ran off down the hall.

Regina stared at Emma, huddled in the corner with the thin, frayed blanket wrapped around her shoulders and pulled across her front in an attempt to keep her body somewhat covered. Her blonde hair was loose and mussed about her shoulders and face, covering her eyes; not that it mattered, she refused to look up to meet Regina's eyes anyway.

Regina forced herself to calm down a little and moved towards Emma, her eyes locked on Emma's, whether she was looking back or not.

"I'm sorry, Emma; this should not have happened."

Emma scoffed, dragging her eyes up to meet Regina's. Her green eyes were hard, and her voice cold. "Happens all the time." She stated.

"Not in future." Regina assured bluntly. Emma saw the flicker of fire in her eyes and for a moment believed her, before she remembered that Regina was the reason she was there in the first place.

"Why not?" she quizzed, "You going to lock up the screws?" she asked allowing a sneer to mark her lips.

Regina falters a little at Emma's statement and feels caught in her gaze. What is she going to do? She sighs and remembers why she came to see Emma in the first place; to appeal to her obvious passion for the rights of the rest of the women.

Regina allows her hard ass cover to slip a little more as she sighs loudly and lowers herself to perch on the hard, metal bed. Regina's eyebrows lower as her dark eyes narrow in Emma's direction. Emma appearance is the same; dishevelled, but the strength Regina can see in her eyes and her body language stirs something in her chest. Emma's bare arms look strong; clear defined muscles tensed with the rage she's feeling. Regina can sympathise with her obvious need to fix what she sees as injustice; and she barely holds in a scoff of laughter as she contemplates the side of the bars Emma fell on.

"Look Emma, I intend to make changes here, but I need co-operation." Regina starts. Emma doesn't flinch.

"You're right," Regina says, and Emma's instinct pulls at her to look up; never has an officer told her she was right, but she fights it.

"What you said yesterday," Regina clarifies when she gets no response from Emma. "I can't do this without your help."

Emma is desperate to believe her, but nothing about her experience in the prison system has given her any reason to think that this one might be different. She pulls her eyes from the floor and stares intently at Regina.

"Listen, darling, I don't know how you sleep working for a system that looks up pregnant women."

Regina's eyes flare; she was really trying here and this insufferable blonde wasn't even going to give her a second. She clenches her teeth and tries to relax. Emma is still staring at her.

"You'll have to trust me," Regina says, hoping Emma hears the request for what it really is, "I don't."

Emma sees the hardness vanish just for a second in Regina's eyes as she answers, but before she can respond Officer Stewart returns panting with a bundle of clothes clutched in his hands.

Regina stands up, smoothed out her skirt and took the clothes from Stewart. Emma stands up and struggles to keep the flimsy blanket covering her modesty. The fabric slips a little when Emma reaches out to take the piles of clothes and Regina barely manages to hide the sharp intake of breath her body demands when her eyes catch sight of Emma's taught bare stomach. Emma doesn't seem to notice but immediately turns away to get dressed.

Regina is frozen to the spot staring before she realises what she's doing and sharply turns her back to Emma to give her some privacy.

"It's up to you, Emma. Either we both climb down together and manage to make something positive out of this mess…"

Emma slides her royal blue hoodie over her head and turns to face Regina's back, flicking her hair from the collar.

"Or?" she asks Regina's back, allowing herself just a second to appreciate her Wing Governor's ass. She might not like the woman's position but she could still appreciate the woman.

Regina took Emma's speech as indication she was dressed and turned back, slowly, just in case.

"Or, we both loose out to the 'old boys network'." Regina pleaded. She'd read Emma's file; she knew this had to appeal to her sense of 'justice'.

Emma sighs. She knows Regina is right.

* * *

Gold stood firm, arms crossed defiantly as he surveyed his kingdom. His women were well into their lunch time routine; queuing at the counter, eating and chatting, scrapping un-stomached food into the bins. He noticed Annabelle making her way from the serving counter, eyes flicking between the women, trying to find a safe table to sit at.

"Annabelle" he called, and her head snapped towards him; her eyes big and bright like a dear in headlights. He loved the innocent type; well as innocent as you could find in the prison system.

"After you finish your food you're moving up to the threes; a girl is shipping out."

Annabelle nodded silently and couldn't stop a smile creeping onto her lips before she ducked her head shyly and moved to find a table again. Gold's eyes narrowed and he felt a sinister smile creep to his own lips.

Zelena over-heard him call to Annabelle and stood at the food counter staring daggers in Gold's direction. What the hell was he playing at?

"Oi Zelena, fill her up!" Vicky called, snapping her fingers in Zelena's face from the other side of the counter.

Zelena pulled her attention from Gold and focused on Vicky. "What do you want?" she asked, hovering her serving spoon above the poor excuses for a nutritional meal.

Emma took a deep breath and watched Regina as the brunette Wing Governor pulled the heavy key from her waist and slide it into the lock of the wing gate. Emma's gave a squeeze to the hand nestled in her own and smiled back at Ashley. Regina pulled the key back from the lock, and it retracted to the clip on her waist. She pushed the bars inwards and held it open for Emma and Ashley to enter behind her. Emma surveyed the other women dining and her eyes found Ana and Elsa standing by the food counter dressed in their aprons ready to clean up.

Emma's hand slips from Ashley's and instead places it on the shorter blondes lower back and guides her towards their friends. Emma more or less hands Ashely over to Anna's embrace and makes her way to the centre of the hall.

"I have an announcement to make!" she calls, and the women turn to face her, listening intently. She's not exactly Queen B, but she's made enough of a name for herself that generally the rest of the women at least want to know what she has to say.

"This unit is back in the fashion show!" Emma announces proudly, turning to look at as many women as she can. "Seeing as I'm the one who got it cancelled; I personally promised Miss Mills that if she let us back in, G Wing would give it our absolute best!" she grinned as the women cheered.

Gold was furious. His eyes met Zelena's across the room and she didn't appear to be very please either.

"So," Emma continued, "If that's okay with you; go and sort out your stuff!" she finished and dipped a quick bow before returning to Ashley's side.

Gold's eyes find Regina standing by the gate, a hint of smugness tugging at her lips.

"You bitch," he mutters but Regina doesn't see. Her attention is caught by Emma's bright, blonde hair swaying behind her as she walked back towards her friend. Emma's head turns and bright green eyes meet Regina's own brown ones, with an honest smile. Regina returns it for just a second before dipping her head to hide her smile growing bigger with satisfaction, and turns away to make her way back to her office. Emma's stares just a little longer after Regina's gaze leaves her own. _Maybe this one is different._

* * *

Later that afternoon Ashley was escorted from HMP Storybrooke and was destined for another prison. Part of Regina's corrective action following the incident, had advised that Ashley be moved out. Emma wasn't impressed that one of her best friends in the place was being taken away, but part of her was also relieved that Ashley wouldn't have to deal with Hershey or Gold again.

* * *

Annabelle's eyes roomed around the room stopping on the photos of her son safely stuck on her new walls. It was far from being free, but a hell of a lot better than being stuck in the dorms with Zelena's right arm.

"Annabelle." A voice called through the wall, and Annabelle's heart lurched to her throat.

"It's me, your new next-door neighbour," Zelena's voice echoed around Annabelle's head.

"I just wanted you to know, it's really made my day you moving up here. You know, deep down, I have a great big soft spot for you." Zelena laughed and Annabelle swore it echoed around the whole prison.

She clenched the body pushed hard against her just a little bit tighter and Gold moaned into her ear as he trailed kisses across her neck, his hands tracing up her back underneath her shirt. _What the hell had she gotten herself into?_


	5. Chapter 5

**AUTHORS NOTE** :

Hello to any new readers, and thanks to those that are sticking with me! I meant it when I said it was a slow burn and while I also hope you're enjoying the other little snippets of our Once characters navigating prison life, I promise you those scenes are crucial to the SwanQueen story, and all will unravel in time.

So…speaking of SwanQueen – how on earth are we going to get them together when they're on different sides of the bars?! And what about Emma's sentence? Life imprisonment seems a little out of character doesn't it? …or does it? Suggestions on a postcard please! Only joking – a review would be fine ;)

Also a special shout out to my ' **Anonymous** ' girls – you know who you are! (they probably make up over half my few followers but anyway!).

* * *

It was pouring down heavily when the truck carrying the new inmates pulled into the courtyard of Her Majesty's Prison: Storybrooke.

Aurora Stephens clutched her belongings to her chest as she shuffled out of the van, her grubby trainers splashing in a puddle as her feet landed on solid ground again, finally. Ingrid Fisher stepped down slowly behind her, completely disoriented; where the hell had they brought her? Her handbag was held tightly in one hand and the other idly attempted to smooth the creases from her shirt.

"Come on girls." An officer called from a doorway up a small flight of stairs. "Let's get you in here quick outa the rain and get a cuppa tea, yeah?"

He ushered Aurora, Ingrid and a few other women out of the rain into the waiting room and secured the door behind him. Officer Smith caught Ingrid's completely overwhelmed expression and smiled at her but she couldn't see through the cloud of confusion in her mind.

"Aw come on love, it's not that bad really; three meals a day, karaoke, no rent. Hell, sign me up!" he joked with grossly misplaced humour, but he meant well, really.

Aurora scoffed and slumped onto a hard, plastic chair. She scrunched up the sleeves of her hoody and pulled her shoulder length, light brown hair around her neck and mindlessly started to plait it roughly. She didn't exactly look comfortable in the room but the others could tell it wasn't her first time in a room where chairs were bolted to the floor and bars covered the windows.

Officer Booth joined Smith in the waiting room and took the manila files from him. She motioned towards Ingrid. "She hasn't got anything with her?" she asked, pretty much stating the obvious. All Ingrid had was the clothes she was wearing and her handbag, gripped so tightly in her hands as if it was her sole connection to the real world, and if she let go, she'd be lost forever. Smith shrugged in response to Booth, so she turned and addressed Ingrid softly, taking in her glazed over eyes.

"Is this all you have love?" Booth asked and Ingrid simply looked at her, not really seeing. "Well don't worry, we've got some clothes you can borrow until you get stuff sent in."

"What?" Ingrid managed to croak, and Booth smiled at her. "Well it's a lovely suit darlin', but you can't wear that for the next 5 years can ya?"

* * *

She was really starting to dread mealtimes, but she couldn't ignore the growling hunger from her stomach any longer, so there she was queuing up for punishment.

"Just veggies for you init Annabelle?" Zelena suggested sneering; not even scrunching her fiery mane into a bright, blue hair net managed to dull the fear her presence inspired in Annabelle's chest. Zelena didn't leave a beat for Annabelle to respond before she continued. "I've got you down as vegan on my sheet, that's right, isn't it." Her voice was hard and Anabelle was very clear that it wasn't a question at all, and she bowed her head in defeat.

"Oh fuck off Zelena, just serve her." Emma called from behind Annabelle in the queue, and Zelena's face snapped in her direction, taking a second to ponder if taking on Emma would be worth it. _Maybe not today, not that she couldn't totally take down the blonde dyke, of course_. Zelena turned and pulled a list off the wall behind her, and made a dramatic show of scanning her eyes down it intently.

"Oh look at me, getting my names all messed up ain't I?" she replied, her thick London accent dripping with sarcasm, eyes narrowing at Annabelle. She held her stare and scooped a huge spoonful of lasagne onto Annabelle's tray, taking care to add enough force make the pale red, mush splash back onto Annabelle's shirt. Annabelle shuffled off without a word and was followed by Emma.

"Look Annabelle, do yourself a favour and keep away from Gold." Emma whispered to her, and Annabelle looked up at her delivering a pathetic attempt at disguising her shock.

"I don't know what you mean." She argued weakly, but she really needn't have bothered.

"Whatever." Emma laughed softly. "Keep away from him and Zelena will leave you be. You know, Zelena's in here for life because of what she did to a girl she was jealous of." Emma informed Annabelle, raising her eyebrows. "Just be safe, yeah?" she added and moved on to find a table. Annabelle watched her leave and suddenly felt her appetite completely vanish. Shit.

* * *

"I've received an anonymous complaint about the drugs testing on this wing." Regina addressed two of her senior officers; Gold and Hershey, who sat uncomfortably in front of her. "It states that we are deliberately selecting women who we know will test negative to avoid paperwork and to look good to the Home Office."

"Excuse me…" Cora interrupted, "…but it should be us female officers who are complaining about urine tests. I don't want to watch women go to the toilet thank you very much." She stated, scoffing, and crossed her arms defiantly in front of her chest as if that was that sorted then. Regina stared at her in disbelief.

"What's the problem with keeping numbers down Regina?" Gold queried. Of course he would completely miss the point. "It's one anonymous letter."

Regina ran a hand through her short, dark hair and turned to pick up a stack of paperwork from her desk. "We have several of the same names cropping up for 'random' searches month after month." She stated flicking through list after list. "From now on, the only ones we 'target' for a hard time are the hard users. We need to be detecting it, not dodging it. Understand?" She finished, fixing them with a hard, passionate stare. She didn't want any doubt in her officers' minds that her wing was going to be taking this very seriously from now on.

"Don't kid yourself Regina, they're smarter than you think." Gold insisted, and at Regina's confused face, elaborated. "Drug free piss is a saleable item inside; how do we know they don't have a bottle tucked up inside them?" His eyebrows raised in her direction and Regina fought the visual images from her head. "We can't very well watch where it comes out of, can we?" he asked and Regina swore she saw a flicker of excitement in his eyes, as if he would very much like to watch. Regina turned away from him briefly to shut out even the idea of it from her head.

"So what Bobby? You just want to give up on them?" Regina asked tossing the words out and shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm just being honest. Prison's a shit place and the drugs make them feel good, help them get through it." Gold tossed right back at her. Regina studied his face and found only honesty, right enough.

"If we really want to stop it, it's simple." Cora chimed up from her seat by the door. "100% closed visits" she continued which earned a moan from Gold, as he got up from his seat and stretched his legs, walking towards the window. "You can moan Bobby, but that's how they get in."

Gold turned back to face Cora, "Why should the others suffers loss of visitation though?"

Cora shrugged and pursed her lips at him, "Suffer they must." She stated.

Regina had had enough. "Well suffer they're not going to, Cora. We need to show them that we're on their side." Regina assured, and she meant it. She was determined to get this prison into shape.

She dismissed her officers and smoothing her skirt beneath her, settled back into her desk chair. She moved her mouse across the desk to bring her PC to life and blinking her eyes wide to focus, got down to business.

* * *

"I was hoping you'd come by." Annabelle said softly when she caught sight of Gold entering her cell, and pushing the door gently behind him. It wasn't completely closed; that wasn't allowed during the day, but it was enough. She shuffled from her bed to greet him but he kept his distance and planted his back against the opposite wall.

"I can't stay." He said bluntly.

Annabelle tentatively moved closer to him, reaching out her hand, confused by his sudden change in behaviour towards her. "Why are you being different?" she asked, her voice betraying her vulnerability.

Gold tilted his head and met her eyes; "Because I feel bad. Because what happened was out of order." She shook her head lightly at him, her mousey brown hair stroking across her neck with the movement, but his back remained firmly against the wall. "I took advantage."

She planted both hands on his chest and pushed herself into his body, her jaw sweeping up to his ear and whispered. "I wanted it."

Surprisingly Gold grabbed both her wrists and eased her back from his chest, and stepped away from the wall, putting distance between them again. "No you didn't Belle, you just wanted someone to be nice to you." The shortened moniker worked and with emotions soaring to her chest Annabelle pushed herself towards him again. He let her hands circle his waist bringing her body against his again. "I'm not like this…" he muttered in her ear "…I never even so much as flirt with the women." His own hands found her shoulders and traced down her back, leaving tracks of heat through her tank top, stopping just short of her ass before he slid them around to her hips and gently pushed her away from him, again.

Annabelle's emotions were running through her like crazy. She wanted him. What was he talking about?

"I'm a married man, Belle." He chided pathetically, his breath panting just a little from the recent proximity of her body to his. "It can't happen again and you have to forget all about it," he stated; his voice suddenly surprisingly calm. He turned to leave her cell, but a hand landed on the door and stopped him from opening it.

"Please wait," she pleaded, reaching forward to kiss him but he side-stepped out of her reach. He's much stronger than she is and pulled the door open, despite her preventative efforts, with ease.

"I love you." she stammered in a last ditch attempt, and he smiled to himself before turning his head to face her sternly.

"No you don't." he said and left her cell.

No she didn't, not really, but emotions and feelings became very easily exaggerated and magnified, when they were trapped inside a six by 8 ft cell, when they should have had the world to roam.

* * *

Zelena jumped down the steps of the metal staircase to the ground floor of the wing. She spotted Officer Nolan sticking some posters, with the word 'drugs' plastered on them in a large font, to the wall and slid up beside him, draping herself against the wall, pouting, to catch his attention.

"Loving the new wall paper, Sir." She drawled seductively, twirling a strand of curly, red hair around her finger. Nolan laughed, he knew it was all a game to the women, but it still unnerved him just a little, and handed her one of the posters.

"It's a serious issue Zelena," he said, and Zelena took the flyer from him and scanned down it. _They really wanted to start clamping down on drugs then._

"You're right Sir, them junkie girls can make our lives a misery." She said and pulled herself from the wall.

"We're establishing a Dedicated Search Team, DST for short. They'll be separate from us officers so everything will be completely confidential," he elaborated sincerely. "We'll be putting up the anonymous boxes near the office later-on today." Zelena just smiled in response, and he smiled back briefly before moving on to the next section of wall destined to be re-decorated. _What an excellent idea Governor_ , she thought, a sinister smile tracing her lips and a fool-proof plan forming in her head. No one called Zelena out in public and got away with it.

* * *

Emma didn't care that the water was barely lukewarm; standing for even five minutes under flowing water allowed her to regain some peace from the confinement of the prison walls. Despite the crap water pressure, the showers were one of the few places you could wrangle some real alone time in prison. Well, she smirked to herself, unless you explicitly wanted the company, but that was more than frowned upon. It wouldn't do to be having any 'fun' in prison. She was facing life inside so finding somewhere where she could enjoy some solitude was vital to remaining just that little bit human; just enough to stop her from being lost completely.

Emma bent down and lifted her bottle of shampoo from her wash bag. It was cheap stuff from commissary and smelt like green apples; if green apples were chemicals produced in a factory. She squirted some onto her hand and dropped the bottle back into her bag. She scrunched the shampoo into her hair and felt it foam up around her fingers. She massaged a little longer than necessary to simply wash her hair, enjoying the feeling of her nerves coming alive again, before stepping back under the flow and letting the foam run down her naked body and into the shower drain. She raked her hands through her hair, rinsing the last bits of shampoo out, closed her eyes and tried to imagine she was anywhere but there; in a crappy prison shower cubicle with cracking grey tiles that tried to pretend they were once white. She grabbed her body wash from her bag and tried to scrub all traces of prison from her skin; pointless she knew, but the action made her feel a little better all the same.

Feeling confident that she had scrubbed as much grime off her skin as she was able with the less than desirable water quality, she turned off the shower and squeezed any excess water from her hair. She pulled her towel down from the cubicle door and dried her body, before shrugging her dressing gown and slippers on to make her way back to the wing. She paused just a moment longer before opening to door, revelling in the silence of the shower room. Mid-day showering might not offer the best water temperature but it sure was quieter. She sighed deeply and mentally prepared herself for joining the real world again. Well, her real world, prison; and the peace she regained during her shower started to fade as the years stretched out before her: endless.

"Emma!" Regina called down the hall, after seeing a mass of damp blonde hair slip out from the bathrooms. She faltered a little when Emma spun to face her clad in only a dressing gown, clutching her wash bag. What was it with her always catching Emma Swan less than fully dressed?

"I wanted to talk to you about Ashley." She called as she proceeded in Emma's direction, her heels echoing sharply on the hard floor.

Emma's face hardened at the mention of Ashley's name, and Regina felt a little betrayed by the look. So they still hadn't got past that. Maybe it was her own fault bringing Ashley up again but she wanted Emma to understand.

"Her being shipped out; Emma, it went over my head." Regina assured a silent Emma, whose eyes widened in mock surprise.

"And I bet it was to stop her suing us for negligence; just like you think." Regina added and hit the nail right on the head with Emma's views on the whole thing, but she sure as hell wasn't about to admit to Regina that she had got something right.

"Right," Emma replied, "Just makes it even more amazing to me that you can stick your job." she practically spits, before turning her back on Regina and continuing down the hallway back to the wing.

Why wasn't Emma letting her have even just an inch? They had joined forces only days before and here she was acting like Regina was still just like every other screw. Regina tried to brush it off; don't let her know

"You still don't think I can do any good then?" Regina called after her, and Emma stopped still and sighed. What the hell was she projecting to Mills that said; 'Emma Swan: feel better about yourself here'?

As Emma turned back to face her Wing Governor she spotted the drugs poster stuck to the wall behind Regina's head and smiled shaking her head.

"I think you make a good poster." Emma nodded her head towards the wall at Regina's perplexed expression. "Very eye catching," she said the sarcasm dripping from her voice as she gave Regina what she obviously wanted; _acknowledgment for all the 'good' she was doing._

Regina raised her eyebrows questioningly, and crossed her arms in front of her chest defiantly. "So you think it's pointless protecting your civil liberties as non-drug users?" she quizzed seeing through Emma's bullshit comment. "You're the ones who have to put up with it because we don't tackle those inmates properly." Emma just laughed shortly at her and shook her head, as if Regina had missed some vital detail.

Shit. Was Emma a drug user?

"Oh tell me you don't take drugs, Emma." Regina almost pleaded, her eyes narrowing as she tucked a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear. Emma was one of her best hopes for improving her wing; she didn't want to lose her to the wrong side of the drugs fight.

Emma just smirked at her, her eyes squinted a little and her tongue nipping out briefly to lick her lips. She looked deep into Regina's dark, hopeful eyes, teasing her with the promise of a heartfelt response.

"I'm not telling you anything." Emma replied, and had fully intended to turn away bluntly to make her point, but she found herself caught in Regina's gaze. She managed to snap herself out of it after a few seconds, but it was still a few seconds longer than she'd planned, and she turned making her way back to wing.

Regina just stared after the blonde prisoner, shaking her head; getting through to Emma Swan was going to take some strength, but Regina was more than confident that she had it.


End file.
